third eye window

The Fitness Bailout is here and it won’t cost you anywhere near $750 billion USD!

It’s me, RM, with a little Fit Blast to help you along when it gets time to tighten your belt but you just can’t get down another notch…here’s some tips for you that may seem obvious on the outside but go far to help you get leaner, out of pain and into a fitter YOU before the big holiday craze hits!

(please see your doctor before starting any new exercise program)

tip #1: Eat Frequent Small Meals
You’ve heard it all before BUT let me tell you that a minimum of 6 smaller meals (and even some healthy snacks in between) will work better than fasting or having three regular meals. Your Body Mass Index will benefit from frequent small meals because your metabolism will be idling all day long as your sugar levels remain steady; you’ll be happy all day, guaranteed.

tip #2: Do 6 x 3 Workouts a Day
Similar to frequent small meals try doing 6 mini workouts a day each averaging 3 minutes in duration. Each exercise could be just one exercise and the better you get the better you can target your goals.
tip #3 Umm, Drink More H2O
If you are not drinking water you are retaining it and oh, yea… it’s good to hydrate.

tip #4 Do Something New For Your Body
Anything your body hasn’t done in a while will be a challenge until it adapts, keep it guessing; Try something new! Tango anyone?

tip #5 Get Some Fitness Gadgets That Work!
A lot of those infomercials that sell fitness gadgets forget to mention that you have to use them to get results, you can’t get fitter if they’re collecting dust under the bed! The point is that some of these things actually work, here’s a few:
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a) Rebounder, also known as mini trampolines, improve your immune system, balance, proprioception, neuromuscular facilitation, coordination, bone density and the list goes on. You’ll be happy that you incorporated a rebounder into your daily life.
My Favorite:
Needak Soft Bounce Non-Folding Rebounder

b) Inversion tables will turn your life upside down, for the better. Decompress your spine, release your hips, get more oxygen to your brain; this basically reverses the effects of gravity on the body. Inversion tables are not for everyone so do start out slow and remember that you can have too much of a good thing.
One Possibility:
Stamina Gravity Inversion Table

c) The DOOR GYM. You may just hang from your hands at first, that will have benefits in and of itself, eventually you’ll get a full PULL UP, I promise
Get:
The Iron Gym Total Upper Body Workout Bar

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*If you get tired of working out with all your new stuff get into your comfy chair and take a gander at these must-have Fitness Bailout Books:

Bodywise: An Introduction to Hellerwork for Regaining Flexibility and Well-Being
by Joseph Heller

The Five Tibetans: Five Dynamic Exercises for Health, Energy, and Personal Power
by Christopher S. Kilham
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This has been a Fitness Advisory that we hope has proven useful and/or motivated you in some way. If you should have any questions, comments or suggestions please reply to this email night or day, we’ll be here!

I’m sure you’re having a lively fall season, the summer sun is well behind us and new plans are waiting to be realized in the future One thing that is present now and is always a constant in our lives, no matter what the season, is our POSTURE. Not just the posture that makes one slouch or un-slouch but the potential posture that invites Total Body Awareness, dynamic posture. Why bother talking about postural awareness? Because it’s everywhere that we want to be. If we expand our postural awareness then every move we make has more flow, energy and efficiency.

Dynamic posture involves the integration of our sensory and neural systems and includes proprioception, kinesthetic awareness, neuromuscular facilitation and the vestibular system. All sports and activities of daily life consist of a series of postures strung together that result in movement.

Posture is not just a measure of sitting straight at the table or standing tall without rounding the shoulders. Posture is a result of many elements coming together into one dynamic “pose”. The main components of a dynamic pose are balance, dynamic flexibility, alignment and neuromuscular coordination. One of the most interesting things about posture is that it’s never static. Even when we are sitting “still”, posture constantly changes and moves. In fact, one of the best ways to begin to tune into our best posture is to sit or lay down on the ground.

Follow these three steps to Fall Into Your Best Posture:

First, sit on the ground with legs crossed or sit in a chair without leaning back. Visualize the spine balancing in space while sitting still. As you hold this image and relax your muscles the brain will form a new image of a relaxed vertical spine. Second, lay flat on the ground face up with palms up. Again, visualize your spine but this time allow the ground to absorb the weight of your back. As you do this, the brain receives a signal that says “it’s ok to relax” and all your aches and pains begin to release into the ground. If you have experienced the first two exercises in postural visualization, you are ready for phase three.

Phase three is about having total body awareness while moving. Proprioception (the unconscious perception of movement arising from stimuli within the body) and the vestibular system (organs in the inner ear concerned with equilibrium) play a big role in our orientation to the environment. Let’s begin by taking a walk around the block. While taking a slow contemplative walk allow your spine to align like a plumb line assisted by the downward pull of gravity; visualize the spine balancing freely in space as you move. When the spine finds balance while in motion many muscles can relax because they stop worrying about holding up the posture.
BALANCE IS WHAT SUPPORTS DYNAMIC POSTURE.
Dynamic posture is not “held up” by muscle power. As one allows muscles to relax while in motion the communication from the proprioceptive nerves in the muscles, inner ear and skin to the brain becomes heightened; this gives us a sense of fluid flow. Who doesn’t want fluid flow while they’re moving? This flow, once attained, will make any movement effortless.

Enjoy the slow contemplative walk a while longer allowing yourself to sink deeper into the earth with every step, let the inner eye of awareness expand to encompass all of the surroundings and feel the breath flowing unimpeded through your whole body. AH, that was regenerating!

If you are a runner, an athlete or an all around mover and shaker these elements of postural visualization can be incorporated into any of your dynamic activities. Good luck falling into your best Dynamic Posture ever! It’s never the same twice

Be Well,
RM